5 Great Artists You Should Absolutely Hear
First off, sorry for the delay since my last post. I received some excellent submissions and I owe it to all participating artists to be timelier with getting them the recognition they deserve.
As always, send your submissions to thesearethejams@gmail.com .
Let’s kick it off.
1. City Calm Down – “Pleasure and Consequence”
About The Artist: City Calm Down is a live electronic four piece from Melbourne, Australia. With varying degrees of influence stemming from post-punk, disco, jazz, and techno they’re making an interesting brand of electronic dance pop. Their live show involves extensive use of samplers, synthesizers, sequencers and drum modules as well as the use of more traditional instruments such as bass guitar, saxophone, voice and kit.
From Me: The lead singer sounds like an amalgam of two of my favorite vocalists; Ian Curtis and Bono. Steady drums and an eighth note bass pulse keep this post-punk revival track moving forward in its quieter moments.
2. Psychic Rites – “Alone at Night”
About The Artist: The sound is sexy. It’s young. It’s smart. When listening, it provides the opportunity to feel as if investing in a smoke machine and the complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche (or, at the very least, a case of Red Bull and some glow sticks) and hosting a makeout party is a reasonable idea. They’re your first trip abroad. They are Berlin, with a hint of Italian euro-trash. They are you’re next favorite band.
From Me: Keeping with the post-punk theme, we’ve got this great song that seems lost from the Cure catalogue. There’s a surf-esque guitar line, dripping wet with reverb and phaser. Highlight is certainly the female backing vocal. Hilarious video as well – I hope it was intended that way.
3. G.S.ONE – “I Was Just Thinking”
About The Artist: G.S.ONE, producer from Manchester, UK, Very passionate about his music, day in and day out he stays in the studio producing soulful and funky house and future sounds. I stay in the bedroom, trying to read or focus on whatever tasks I need to complete but the beats from the studio distract me, and I always end up bopping my head and moving me feet. G.S.ONE has a release coming out on the BPM (Big People Music) label shortly. His tracks are being played on the radio and in the clubs, and everyone is looking forward to the release of his first EP.
From Me: This is easily the best electronic submission I’ve received. I’ll admit, I’m very biased. Anything with old UK Garage influence will get my attention. The descending melodic line grabs you the first time – you’ll crave it.
4.Treasureseason – “Don’t Hold Back”
About The Artist: Treasureseason, currently the duo of David Powell and Jess Bartlet, began in San Francisco’s Sunset District, where Powell met and recorded the project’s debut self-titled EP with Swedish musician Ida Olsson in 2012. Structured as chillwave built into saturated soundscapes, their music stood out with a combination of lo-fi resampling and the palpable influence of catchy 80s film soundtracks. After successfully touring the UK, the duo recorded a well received follow-up EP, Bearing, North, which has since received extensive blog coverage and subsequent airtime on Amazing Radio, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, and many more small indie radio shows across the globe. Replacing Olsson as Powell’s partner in the project, is writer and performer Jess Bartlet, from Cambridge, while Olsson will remain in her native Sweden.
From Me: The Swedish connection is no surprise here, as this is reminiscent of Niki and The Dove, whose “Instinct” is one of my favorite albums from 2012. As I’m going through this write-up, I’ve received lots of music with strong 80s influence. Thankfully, the better aspects of 80s music are represented here.
5. Flashes – To Catch a Ghost
About The Artist: We are a 5 piece band from Cornwall, UK combining noisy guitars, electronics and pretty songs. We’ve been playing together for 3 years, most of which was spent writing and getting noise complaints and abuse from the neighbours before finally being banned from our practice space. We recorded and released our debut album Latency last year. Our second album Flashes was recorded over 4 days at the end of 2012 and is due to be self released later this month.
From Me: I was drawn in by the great guitar sound, and the texture kept me listening. To me, it’s a modern interpretation of the great English guitar rock of the late 80s and early 90s, right before the Brit-Pop period.
Facebook
Bandcamp
YouTube
Twitter
Those were the jams, as submitted by you! Keep the submissions coming to thesearethejams@gmail.com – I can’t wait to hear more!